Stranded dolphin is rescued on Cape Cod

Eric WilliamsSaturday, December 04, 2010

Credit: Cape Cod Times

HELPING HANDS: Rescuers help lift a common dolphin onto a cart to move it from the beach to the parking lot, where it was to be evaluated yesterday after stranding itself on Crosby Landing beach in Brewer.

BREWSTER — A common dolphin found stranded yesterday at Crosby Landing in Brewster was successfully released at Herring Cove in Provincetown.

But not before rescuers paused for a little science.

According to Jane Hoppe, a stranding technician for the Yarmouthport-based International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Marine Mammal Rescue Team, the female dolphin was outfitted with a satellite tag and released.

Hoppe said the dolphin appeared to be a “fairly robust animal” and had passed a health assessment indicating it was a good candidate for release.

Hoppe said Herring Cove in Provincetown was a good release location because it provided access to deep water.

The group was alerted to the dolphin stranding by a passerby who found it yesterday morning about a quarter-mile east from the Crosby Landing parking lot.

Rescuers lifted the stranded dolphin and placed it on a special cart — with wide wheels to roll over the beach sand — and removed it from the beach.